Brussels - Gaza: Europe and the Arabs
The Belgian-Palestinian French-Speaking Association (ABP) has criticized the Belgian police commissioner's participation in a summit in Israel.
According to Belgian media reports Tuesday morning, including the Nieuwsblad website, the Belgian-Palestinian French-Speaking Association (ABP) criticized the announced participation of Saad Amrani, the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles Police Commissioner and advisor to the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles Police Chief, in an anti-terrorism summit in Israel.
According to the association, this annual meeting, titled "Israel in the Eye of the Global Storm," aims primarily to justify Israel's policies against the Palestinians and the people of the region "under the guise of security discussions." The summit will be held from September 15 to 18 at Reichman University, north of Tel Aviv. One of the sponsors is Elnet, a lobbying organization active in Europe to counter statements critical of Israel.
The association believes that Saad Amrani's participation constitutes "support for the Israeli model of counterterrorism." The police and the Interior Ministry urged "urgently preventing this participation and ending any security dialogue with the Israeli regime as long as it continues to violate international and humanitarian law."
The summit will host a number of Israeli politicians, including far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman.
According to the Belgian Palestinian Association, the summit, titled "Israel in the Eye of the Global Storm," aims primarily to legitimize Israel's policies toward the Palestinians and other regions, under the guise of security. The program includes sessions titled "From Gaza to Tehran: A New Israeli Security Doctrine" and "Anti-Semitism vs. Anti-Zionism: A Global Breakthrough." One of the sponsors is Elnet, a European lobby group working to combat anti-Israel discourse.
Pierre Galland, president of the Association for Palestinian Rights (ABP), condemned Amrani's participation, saying, "This reprehensible cooperation constitutes a flagrant violation of our moral and legal obligation not to cooperate with the ongoing genocide." According to the association, his presence implicitly legitimizes "the Israeli model of counterterrorism." The Association for the Protection of Civil Society (ABP) calls on the Belgian police and the Ministry of the Interior to immediately ban Amrani's participation and temporarily suspend all security dialogue with Israel as long as it continues to violate international law and humanitarian standards.
Amrani, who has worked in the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police district for nearly twenty years, is known for his expertise in radicalization, counterterrorism, and law enforcement. He has previously been mentioned as a potential future commander of the Federal Police and is a regular speaker at international conferences in Europe, North America, and Israel.
"This reprehensible cooperation represents a blatant violation of our moral and legal obligation not to cooperate with the ongoing genocide," said Pierre Galland, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ABP.
This coincided with the announcement of thirteen deaths in Gaza, amid Israeli preparations for an attack on residential areas.
According to the same sources, the Civil Defense in Gaza reported that thirteen people were killed in overnight Israeli attacks on several residential areas in Gaza. Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal reported that the Israeli Air Force struck the top floor of a residential building southwest of Gaza City, killing ten people. Israeli helicopters also reportedly bombed an apartment west of the city, killing three and wounding others.
The Israeli military is preparing to launch an offensive to seize control of Gaza City. The army has intensified its bombardment of the area in recent days. Since the beginning of the war in October 2023, more than 60,000 people have been killed on the Palestinian side. More than 1,200 have been killed on the Israeli side.